Legal representatives for Fallout 3 publisher Bethesda Softworks have sent a cease and desist letter to Xreal, an indie studio currently working on “Fortress Fallout”, demanding the developer change the game’s title and no longer applies for its trademark.
Head of Xbox Matt Booty said that it’s ‘unfair’ to put crunch culture on ‘one studio’
"Head of Xbox Matt Booty said that it’s ‘unfair’ to put crunch culture on ‘one studio’"
Alright Matt, so you're saying it's okay because there are other studios that crunch too? What sort of effed up logic is that for a supposed leader?
Then why not take the criticism on the chin? Crunch is bad at any studio, including Bethesda. Own it, don't deflect.
Sometimes you just gotta take it, Booty..
That's exactly why you would say such a thing. There's literally no other reason to mention it unless you're justifying it.
Its interesting that MS came to the defense of Activisn/Blizzard but didnt say anything when Bobby Kotic got re-elected to Activisn board. People said MS has no say in it, but now it seems they did and stayed silent. Interesting.
I do wonder if people just read the sensational headlines and run with it or if they actually bother to take the time to read the article.
"Then why not take the criticism on the chin? Crunch is bad at any studio, including Bethesda. Own it, don't deflect."
Wtf are you talking about? Did you even bother to read the article?
Kotaku´s report about crunch practices at Zenimax/Bethesda dated from 2018 during Fallout 76´s development. They were independent at the time, so how exactly Matt Booty should "own" any criticism towards Bethesda if the said company wasn´t an Xbox first party studio?
And yet he feels he should defend them. So he's acknowledged the issue, it makes no odds when it took place.
If he feels the need to comment on it at all, he should simply assure everyone that it won't happen on his watch. Instead, he defended them because he felt they were being singled out. That's deflection, not condemnation.
Pointless saying this to you though, I do realise this.
Did YOU bother to read the article? Or is your brain selective with the information it can absorb?
"Former Bethesda employees said that Xbox took a hands-off approach to managing ZeniMax once the acquisition closed, frustrating workers who’d hoped that Microsoft would improve their employment benefits.
ZeniMax wasn’t the only Xbox-owned studio that allegedly received relative autonomy from the publisher. Former employees at Undead Labs also claimed that Xbox took a “hands-off” approach after acquiring that game studio. While it may seem good that the publisher is allowing acquired studios some operational freedoms, sources at Undead Labs worried that such permissiveness “allowed dysfunction to fester.”"
But we're all guilty of enabling the behavior. People complain vehemently when games are delayed.
He is right that it's unfair to blame that culture on one studio when it is an industry wide standard. Looking at your name, you're a fan of ND, who are renowned for some of the worst crunch in the industry, so you've likely also contributed to the problem.
Lmao don't be ridiculous. How are you gonna put this awful practice on the gamer? If it's not ready, gamers whine, so what? They'll still buy it down the line and devs/pubs know that. You think if I send a tweet saying "hurry up", they're going to work harder and longer? Lol
It's done to make money sooner. To satisfy investors, per the preferred schedule, at the behest of the management. You can't possibly be that naive that you don't understand that. I refuse to believe it.
I never said it was wholly the gamers fault - obviously corporations are to blame too, but yes, gamers contribute.
The next time a big game gets delayed, go on the developers twitter and see how much abuse they get - both the company and the individuals who work there. Some will even be getting death threats if the game is big enough.
And no naivety at all on my part - I've lived through game delays myself, seen how much potential community reaction is weighted before making the call to delay a title, and seen the BS received from the community.
The industry and gamers view game delays as the end of the world and use it as a reason to attack the people working on the game, when in reality, delays should be common to ensure both quality of the game and quality of life for the staff.
The game has no resemblance whatsoever to Fallout. This is pretty stupid.
When will corporations realise that they do not own WORDS.
This reminds me of when Bethesda sued Mojang for using the word "scrolls" as the title of their game:
http://www.gamespot.com/art...
I kind of have Bethesda noted in my mind as that one company that makes good games but has a law team that will jump at any opportunity to shut other projects down for sharing a single word. Mojang's Scrolls all over again....